Warmer waters might prevent baby lobsters from surviving

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Baby lobsters might not be able to survive in the ocean’s waters if the ocean continues to warm at the expected rate.

That is the key finding of a study performed by scientists in Maine, the state most closely associated with lobster in the U.S.

The scientists found that lobster larvae struggled to survive when they were reared in water 5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the current temperatures typical of the western Gulf of Maine.

That’s how much the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects the Gulf of Maine to warm by the year 2100.

The paper appears this month in the scientific journal ICES (ICE-ees) Journal of Marine Science. Scientists at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences performed the research.